


Working Through It

by bmovies212



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: EFA Fic Challenge 2020, Mostly Canon Compliant, Post Season Four, some small angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:29:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25119922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bmovies212/pseuds/bmovies212
Summary: After their reunion, Nicole and Wynonna try to get through their feelings with a good old training session.(Inspired by the word prompt 'tender'l
Relationships: Wynonna Earp & Nicole Haught
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	Working Through It

Nicole circled around the empty briefing room, looking for an opening. Across from her, Wynonna held her fists low but ready, her right eye still bruised and slightly tender from Nicole's greeting to her on the streets outside of town a couple days ago. 

"Come on, Haught," taunted the older woman. "You were plenty happy to attack without warning last week. Lose your nerve?"

"Oh, I lost something, alright," returned Nicole, and Wynonna's grin slipped slightly, her stance faltering. Nicole seized the moment and dived forward, aiming to knock Wynonna to the mat they'd set up earlier. Her attack proved too aggressive, though, as Wynonna nimbly darted aside, leaving Nicole on the floor.

"Too fast, Red." The former heir stood over her and grinned. "Wanna go again?" 

Nicole growled and sprang up fast, in a move that surprised both her and Wynonna. One second she was down on the ground, the next she was locking arms with Wynonna and pushing against her. "Still too fast, Earp?"

"Nope." Wynonna's voice strained as she struggled to push back against the-- 

( _Sheriff?_ _ Former sheriff? Last bastion of law this side of the Rockies? God, what even do you call yourself when the population of the town you're sworn to protect has been reduced to two, not including yourself? _ )

\--and gain the upper hand in their fight. Out of the corner of her eye, Nicole saw Wynonna's foot raise and then she saw/felt it come crashing down on her left foot. She howled in pain and Wynonna took the opportunity to shove her backwards before following up with a leg sweep that sent Nicole crashing to the floor  _ again. _

"That's two," counted Wynonna. 

"Aw, you did math," cooed Nicole, echoing a long ago comment of Her, and Wynonna stopped smiling. Her face quickly shifted from cautious enjoyment to rage and suddenly  _ she _ was running at Nicole. Nicole leapt onto a nearby desk and then ricocheted off of it to tackle the charging Earp to the ground. "One, " she said smugly. Wynonna pulled herself to her feet with a scream and ran at Nicole again, but Nicole merely dove for her legs and within seconds Wynonna was once more on the mat. "Two," counted Nicole. "Maybe--"

The world tilted and Nicole felt herself falling backwards. Her head hit the mat and she winced at the impact.  _ Three _ , she counted internally. A throbbing at one of her ankles told her about the leg sweep Wynonna had managed to pull off. Before she could move, though, Wynonna was on top of her, fists raining down on shoulder, neck, head. "Earp!" Nicole shouted through the fists. Nicole tried to cover her face but Wynonna was too close and too on top of her. She reached for Wynonna's waist and yanked to her right as hard as she could. A yelp followed by a crash as Wynonna hit the wall told Nicole it was safe to get up now, so she did. 

Stretching her jaw to make sure it wasn't broken from Wynonna's assault, Nicole looked to her right and saw that she'd managed to hurl her….to hurl Wynonna twenty feet to her right and smack into the door. Determined not to let her pride in her victory show (even though she  _ so _ deserved it), Nicole wandered over to the cooler, reached inside, and pulled out a couple of refrigerated steaks. They didn't smell great -- in fact, they smelled horrible and almost made Nicole want to puke, but meat was meat and cold was cold -- but Nicole unwrapped them anyway and tossed one to the unmoving and groaning form that was lying at her feet. "Get up," she said, not unkindly.

"Why, so you can beat me up again?" Wynonna grabbed the steak next to her and held it to her head as Nicole took a bite out of hers. Both women took seats on a bench next to the wall and sat in silence for a couple minutes, waiting for the other to speak. Finally, Wynonna said, "That was a pretty good throw."

Nicole grunted and took another bite out of her steak. Wynonna made a sound and said, "Sure you don't want to heat that up a little there, Haught-Dog?"

"It's fine," said Nicole. The meat slid down her throat, and Nicole took what was left and placed it between her head and the wall. "Nice sweep back there."

"Thanks." An awkward silence descended over the pair. Nicole sensed Wynonna struggling to say something and sighed. "I get it, okay?"

"Get what?" asked Wynonna.

"Why you drugged us -- me and Jeremy and Robin." She sighed and leaned forward, catching the meat before it slid too far and holding it in front of her.

"Really…" said Wynonna. "So you're not--"

"Oh, no, I am  _ plenty _ mad. You ran off with her with the barest scraps of a plan and ended the day with us taken and her gone."

"That's….fair," said Wynonna. "But we just need to regroup….track down what's left of Black Badge, and--"

"And there you go again; exactly  _ how _ do we do that?" Wynonna was silent, and Nicole nodded, having expected as much. "She asked me something just before you called us in, you know."

"Asked what?" Nicole just looked at Wynonna and was pleased to see her eyes go wide. "Oh, shit, Haught--"

"Yup."

"Christ….no wonder you hate me right now."

Nicole sighed. "I don't…. _ hate _ you….exactly."

"Really? I do."

Nicole glanced sidelong at her. "I think you mean would."

"Don't talk about dicks right now, Haught." Wynonna smiled weakly at her and Nicole rolled her eyes. "Look...I just mean you're right. I charged off with one goal and plan and didn't have a backup in case things went to hell….which they did, more or less."

"So the garden is Hell, then? Lovely." 

Wynonna smacked her but laughed, and Nicole sighed. "I meant what I said before. I am  _ very _ mad at you, but not enough to hate you. I just….need to know why."

Wynonna's face scrunched up. "I thought you said you knew why."

"Well....to hear you say it, then."

"To keep you idiots safe."

"Bull."

"Nope," said Wynonna. "No bull. It's like I told Waverly--" Nicole winced at hearing the name, another reminder of what she had lost. Wynonna noticed and nodded. "Two guardians, two swords...and two sisters. There needed to be two. Any more, and…" Wynonna shrugged. "Well, if we failed or died trying, at least you'd still be here to protect the town."

"Right, so you drugging me was entirely selfless."

"Yeah, don't tell anyone. I got a reputation to maintain."

"No need to worry about that, since there's no one to tell." Nicole sighed and looked around. "Alright, so what do we--"

The phone rang.

The two women stared at the phone, both shocked by its sudden activity. Nicole spoke first. "That's ringing, right?"

"In addition to my ears, yeah." Wynonna looked at her as the phone continued to ring. "You gonna get it?"

"Should I?" 

"You're still the sheriff."

"In a town with just us and Nedley, and he said he'd call our cells."

"Maybe it's one of the boys."

"I--" The phone stopped ringing, and for a moment everything was quiet. When it started again, Wynonna rolled her eyes and picked up the receiver. "Purgatory Police and Pizza Patrol, what do you--" Wynonna's sarcastic answer was cut off as she listened to whoever was on the other end. She took the reciever away from her ear and turned to Nicole. "How do you put this thing on speakerphone?"

Nicole rolled her eyes and walked.over to the phone. After switching the input over, she hung up the reciever and said, "This is Nicole Haught and Wynonna Earp. Who am I talking to?" 

There was a pause, and then a voice that sounded like a young girl said, " _ Don't you mean Sheriff Haught and Deputy Marshall Earp? _ "

Nicole glanced at Wynonna, who shrugged. "Miss," said Nicole. "This line is for emergencies. Are you--"

" _ Yeah, and everyone pulling a Bermuda Triangle definitely qualifies, wouldn't you say? _ "

"Listen, twerp," said Wynonna. "We've had a pretty bad week, so unless you got something important to say, we're hanging up right now, capiche?"

" _ Okay, okay, don't get your panties in a bunch _ ," said the girl. " _ My name's Rachel, and….I could use your help." _

**Author's Note:**

> So this popped into my head as soon as I saw the prompt of 'tender'. My mind immediately went to food and wounds, and everything just sprang from there, especially given Nicole's reaction to Wynonna in the season four trailer. 
> 
> Bonus info - I have a slightly wolfish theory about why Nicole seems a little more aggressive this season than we've seen her in the past. I tried to throw in a few nods to it, but mostly I just wanted a chance for Nicole to take Wynonna down a little and give them an excuse to talk.


End file.
